a dragon's empire
by kappus the thief
Summary: the death of a overlord is a powerful thing, able to be felt by most everywhere. karnifax is a black dragon woken up by the disturbance in the balance between good and evil. interested in the secrets of the overlord, how will he sieze the treasure of the dark tower and is he the only one seeking it?


somewhere in the golden hills...

Karnifax could feel it, the chromatic black dragon stirred groggily as he stepped out of his cave onto the cliff overlooking the settlement that was once the home of that fat dwarven piece of wyrm dung called Goldo and his foul machine he named Rolly. he had to blink several times for the early morning sun stung his eyes abit but the discomfort would pass for whatever stirred him from his rest was far more interesting. it felt like the balance of good and evil had been greatly disturbed, like good had completely overwhelmed evil and shattered it and sending it's remains scattering across the four winds. the black dragon set his gaze towards the west where mellow hills was and that little peasant village, sprig? spunk? spree? it didn't matter but the distrubance seemed to be coming from that direction.

wanting answers, the great black dragon spread out his wings and dove of the cliff, catching the current and gliding down like a giant black crow of death and destruction towards the dwarven settlement, already he could hear angry, drunken shouts as dwarven miners panicked and alarms rung out. karn couldn't help but smirk at the thought of dwarves pissing themselves at the sight of a dragon so close to their homes, he landed with a loud thud that shook the ground, already several of the midget drunks lost their balance and fell on their sorry asses. a group of axe-wielding soldiers charged at their own..pace but karn just sent a gust from his wings and they all went flying, shrieking in high pitched girlish screams. now they were seated, karn took a deep breath and bellowed.

"DWARVES OF THE GOLDEN HILLS!, I HAVE COME DOWN SEEKING NEWS!"

half the dwarves were still picking themselves up when a young red haired lad who karn could see was no more than maybe eighteen or nineteen spoke up in a nervous voice.

"what kind of news, s-s-sir?"

karn eyed the boy who was shaking so badly it was kinda amusing. "I have felt a great disturbance in the balance of things, and I seek any news from outside these dwarven lands".

"and why should we tell you anything?, yeah great big lizard?!" came the angrier, pissed off, snobbish voice of a fat dwarf butcher who pushed his through the crowd of drunken beards that had gathered before their interrogator.

"you deny me simple answers, butcher?" karn said, raising a eye ridge in mock surprise.

"i will deny you all the secrets of the world, you dog!" the butcher spat.

karn just stared at the dwarf, was this guy for real?. the dragon bared his teeth into a snarl.

"come now butcher, even you are not that stupid to deny a dragon?"

the butcher spat again, his glob landing inches from one of karn's claws, the crowd of dwarves gasped, and the young lad from earlier looked so pale he could be mistaken as a spirit.

"butcher, your trying my patience"

"same to you, now go! go back to your hole! foul swamp spawn!" the butcher shouted, his face red and his eyes glaring daggers at karn.

this was pointless, raising his arm and curling his claws into a fist he brought it down on the butcher with a mighty slam. bones fragmented into tiny splinters, meat and organs turned into a pink paste, and blood splattered on some of the other dwarves. the crowd stared in horror at the remains of the butcher but no one said a word for what seemed to be minutes.

"anyone else?"

the crowd shook their head.

"now, can anyone please tell me of any news from the west?"

a elderly dwarf, a miner from the way he was dressed stepped up, his voice was croaky and dry.

"well, there has been news of the defeat of the overlord, at the battle of hamlock river!"

karn's eyes widened in shock, maybe for a few moments, the overlord defeated? karn had heard news of a overlord that had risen to power ever since the crusade of eight. this overlord had gathered a mighty army, slayed the former heroes,conquered much of the land and was the pinaccle of evil incanrate. could he truly have been defeated? and by whom? and what of the infamous dark tower? he was sure he was not the only one with the urge to take the tower in search of gold, ancient artifacts, or weapons of power that remained untouched, it was only a matter of time.

"dragon?"

the voice had snapped him out of his thoughts, the crowd of dwarves still looking at him, some angry while most where terrified and nervous. karn turned his great gaze back to the elder dwarf.

"how do you know of this dwarf?"

"my brother is at hamlock sir, the letter arrived two days ago"

"and what did he tell you?" karn sat on his haunches, staring at the dwarf with a interested gleam in his eyes.

the old dwarf took a deep breath as all eyes were on him as he began to tell his tale...

author note: my first fanfic in almost 10 years, i have been busy with original projects and finding a job :D i used to be on alot an was a horrible writer now i am ready .


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